iLife Surround Sound

As part of their in depth series on iLife software, MacLife presents this gem: Add Movement to Sounds in GarageBand

Do You Find $$ or do the $$ Find You?

Really insightful article from TechLearning about Reactive and Proactive Grantseeking

I've done mostly reactive grants - and had some success at it. But never thought to break up types of grants into these distinctions. And I love what he says here about meeting and collaborating with others to figure out the problems/solutions that your teaching is offering.

Kind of Random...

But any blog that mentions the movie Man With A Movie Camera gets my vote.
film | serial consign even gives a nice description of the film and places it in a modern context.

If you haven't seen Man With A Movie Camera (many haven't) I do recommend it. Kind of a surrealistic documentary. Nice one for opening students' eyes to different techniques too. And while I'm recommending films to blow their minds, let me add I Am Cuba and also any Fellini.

Recently Expanded - Great Source for Youth Made Media

Uth TV
has been expanding its' website and now offers even more clips from youth media producers nationwide. The quality of work by todays' students is just amazing. If you already spend waaaaay to much time on You Tube, be sure to peek here as well.

Gallery: Digital Video Expo Is AV Geek's Wet Dream

Gallery: Digital Video Expo Is AV Geek's Wet Dream: "Digital Video Expo Is AV Geek's Wet Dream By Dave Bullock Write to the Author 12.12.07 | 3:30 PM LOS ANGELES -- From editors to video bloggers and pornographers, attendees at last week's DV Expo 2007 found a show floor full of gizmos and software to take their productions to the next level. Hundreds of digital-video-tech manufacturers demo'd their latest wares to potential buyers. If you've tried to take your cat's video LOLblog to the next level, or if you want to sink your teeth into high-quality, prosumer production, check out the latest DV tech offered at the show. Left: Panasonic's AG-HMC70 is a low-cost, solid-state, shoulder-mounted HD camera. Sporting an array of pro features -- balanced audio inputs (bottom), HDMI outputs, AVCHD codec and an adjustable eyepiece -- this new camera will be quite a deal when it's released at around $1,200."

Interesting Journal

This journal seems a bit broad, but it does have some excellent equipment reviews.

"T.H.E. Journal is dedicated to informing and educating K-12 senior-level district and school administrators, technologists, and tech-savvy educators within districts, schools, and classrooms to improve and advance the learning process through the use of technology. Launched in 1972, T.H.E. Journal was the first magazine to cover education technology. T.H.E. Journal’s franchise consists of the monthly magazine, two Web sites (www.thejournal.com and www.EduHound.com), four newsletters (K-12 Tech Trends, T.H.E. SmartClassroom, EduHound Weekly, and T.H.E. Focus), T.H.E. Institute (research, consulting and professional development), and targeted list rental opportunities."

Take Your Sound to the Next Level

MacLife presents this helpful tutorial on how to Add Movement to Sounds in GarageBand Nothing like surround sound to kick it up a notch.

What Goes Into A Video Class?

Digital Storytelling: It’s More Than Just Software: "Digital Storytelling: It’s More Than Just Software Jon Orech from Educators' eZine 'We've been working here for an hour. Am I in the right room? I signed up for Digital Storytelling…but we still haven't turned on the computer…' Whenever I conduct a DST — Digital Storytelling — workshop, I usually get this reaction from participants. Digital Storytelling is one of the most powerful, yet misunderstood applications for the classroom. If your district is deciding how to develop staff to take the plunge into the 'movie' world, you need to begin by clarifying one point: Digital Editing is not Digital Storytelling."

Net Day/Speak Up Survey - Fill it out before December 23

"Speak Up, a national online research project facilitated by Project TomorrowSM, gives individuals the opportunity to share their viewpoints about key educational issues. Each year, findings are summarized and shared with national and state policy makers. Participating schools and districts can access their data online, free-of-charge. All districts and schools, in the current NCES database, are automatically registered to participate in Speak Up. To participate in the survey and obtain free, online access to your school or district’s aggregated results, your registration must be activated below."

Shorts Showing

When I was a film student, one of the ways I studied was to volunteer at film festivals. That way, I got to see all the movies for free! Now, I encourage my students to do the same.

Independent films can be an excellent source of inspiration. I also find that independent short films teach students about story, character, and the craft of filmmaking in ways books and lectures never can.

PBS, ITVS and their show Independent Lens have put several of this year's best shorts online for viewing - and voting starting December 10. Maybe time for a contrast and compare with the Insomnia winners...

Online Shorts Festival

Insomnia Film Festival - Winners!

Insomnia Film Festival has the winners up on their website.

Look Sharp - iPhoto problems

I had heard that there were some problems with iPhoto - turns out it's a pretty big deal. Since we use iPhoto in our lab to archive a lot of the students' work (and staff photos of students-at-work), I'll be purchasing an '08 upgrade asap.

iPhoto Woes
Purging the Corruption from iPhoto '08- MacLife

Current TV is Hiring Students for Summer 08'

CURRENT TV is recruiting for their Student Executive Producer Internship Program - it looks like they're leaning towards students from several specific colleges, but open to all.

Outstanding students with a background and interest in non-fiction video production should apply to be Student Executive Producers. Student Executive Producers will receive a base compensation of $10/hr and monetary bonuses for reaching performance targets, be connected to an outstanding network of do-it-yourself filmmakers and professional media producers and executives, and take part in building one of the world's most innovative cable and satellite television networks.

Interested students can check out this link for more information about the position and to download an application, or email the College Outreach team (collegeoutreach@currentmedia.com) directly with questions.

The application due date is Sunday, December 9th, 2007.

It's That Time of Year Again

Time's running out to register for MacWorld Expo, this January in San Francisco. As always, there will be many phenomenal products and ideas exchanged, especially at the Macworld Educator Academy Be sure to sign up by December 14th for the best discounts.

Fun Contest for Students - Flip Video Cameras

MySpace.com/flipvideo
Myspace is hosting a cool little contest called "What I'd Flip for this Holiday Season". The prize is one of these great little hard drive cameras. I had a chance to use one earlier this year - they take pretty good shots that are low rez. They're super easy to use and perfect for uploading to YouTube or Facebook or your school's site. I also like that you can give the cameras to your students to take home - and that they could shoot with them in many places a bigger camera wouldn't be welcome.

(Just make sure that the usb actually fits into your computer's slots before you toss the receipt. It's not that flexible.)

What if you only had 1 day to make a movie?

By the way, the gallery for the Insomnia Film Festival is up. The top 9 films are currently being viewed and scored by celebrity judges. Winners to be announced shortly.

When Planning Your Shoot...

Don't forget to check the Weather : "Google Earth Forecasts and Displays Current Weather The recent Google Earth update introduced lots of new layers, but one extremely useful layer that passed under our radar (as it were) at first glance was the addition of a new weather layer. The layer includes radar information, current conditions, and forecasts pulled every 15 minutes from Weather.com and a cloud layer that updates hourly from the Naval Research Laboratory. So if you're already obsessed with Google Earth for its stargazing and live flight tracking features, now you've got one more use for the freeware, cross-platform atlas."

Tips and Tricks for the new iMovie

MacLife's Better Your iLife (Part 3)- iMovie '08: "iMovie is all about easy editing, but it’s still got some hidden tricks aimed at more advanced editors. This collection of three video tips and four audio tips will help you go past the more obvious basics and squeeze a little more professionalism out of your iMovie projects. Try them out, and maybe you won’t want to upgrade to a more difficult (and more expensive) editor like Final Cut Express."

If you are in LA...

2007-2008 Contemporary Documentaries Calendar
Courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscar People)

The 26th annual Contemporary Documentaries series is a showcase for feature-length and short documentaries drawn from the 2006 Academy Award® nominations, including the winners, as well as other important and innovative films considered by the Academy that year.

All films in the series, except for the November 28 titles, screen at the Linwood Dunn Theater at the Academy’s Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. The filmmakers will be present at screenings whenever possible. Admission for all screenings is free. Tickets are not required for entry.

Is Text Only Enough for Today's Students?

An interesting Blog from Techlearning
with some great examples of how images, video, phototagging, and other medium can tell the story better than text alone.

Just in Time for Halloween

How-To Create a Cheap and Cheesy Horror Movie- MacLife: "This Halloween you could throw a boring old party or hand out the same old candy. Or you could gather your friends and family and create a cinematic masterpiece. Follow us as we lead you to the summer camp that is The Mac|Life Guide to Creating a Cheap and Cheesy Horror Film. "

Pre-Production Means Research

In my classroom, video pre-production includes research. Back in the day, this meant hitting the pavement and heading down to the library. Now, students have so much at their fingertips - but I find many of them don't know more than the basics. Here's an article with some tips for taking your google searches to the next level. I pasted the article into Word and made it into a handout that I give to the kids - and keep one at my desk too.

12 Quick Tips To Search Google Like An Expert

Side Project # 467

How To Make a Countdown Clock!

I'm always looking for little side projects I can give to students who finish early and say "I have nothing to do..." This is a nice little Techtorial that shows how to use PowerPoint to make a countdown clock. Sounds perfect!

What's a Techtorial, you say?
Education World Techtorials are weekly, step-by-step instructions on using some aspect of technology in the regular classroom. Short, practical, and educationally sound, Techtorials provide classroom teachers with simple, straightforward tips they can use today!

Each week, Education World will post a new Techtorial dealing with topics related to software applications, Internet use, computer maintenance and troubleshooting, special interest technology, and more -- with a strong focus on the beginning or reluctant computer user. The Techtorials will provide help in both classroom management and creating computer-based activities for students and will include tips for both PC and Mac users.

Using Video to Empower Children of Inmates

UgoNet - Children have become the collateral damage of the prison system. But in them is also great potential for collateral benefits. If a child can rise above the psychological and emotional barriers of a parent's incarceration, that child is far less likely to end up confined by physical barriers later in life. If that child can interpret, capture and share their environment and situation through film, they hold the power to change the way our communities understand the intersections of families and captivity.

In summer 2006, Maysles Institute partnered with the Incarcerated Mothers Program to teach six 8-12 year old kids how to create short videos of their lives, to be shared with their parents and community. Our goal was to offer these young people the experiences and tools that will empower them to create influential works of art while envisioning and realizing healthy futures. The program will continue with workshops this fall, and then regularly in spring.

Youth Media Learning Network

EVC - Youth Media Learning Network: " Youth Media Learning Network: EVC IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE LAUNCHING OF THE YOUTH MEDIA LEARNING NETWORK Based on the model of EVC's study group and teacher institutes, EVC has launched the national Youth Media Learning Network (YMLN) in association with YouthLearn, EDC. With seed funding from the Open Society Institute and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, YMLN will offer professional development institutes and fellowships for youth media practitioners, after school youth program instructors, and K-12 classroom teachers in six regions, beginning with New York City in August 2007. For more information, contact Project Director Tim Dorsey at tdorsey@edc.org or Sebene Selassie at sselasie@evc.org."

See It Map It Learn It

A short but inspiring article about innovative approaches to applying new media in traditional subjects like English and Social Studies. Using Digital Place-Based Storytelling To Teach Geographical Thinking

After reading this article, I had my documentary students open up Google Earth. The characters in their story have a real connection to a specific place, so we used that spot as our starting point. And now their shot list is so much richer!

You Can Take It With You

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Here are instructions for downloading YouTube Videos to your computer (or iPod) so that you can use them with students.

All this time, I've been searching on Google Video. If it wasn't there, I just didn't use it. Thanks Techlearning!

You Can Take It With You

How To Make Student Films Better...the Basics

In his article, Adding Impact to Digitally-Filmed Stories
Jon Orech gives some basic definitions and strategies to make student film & video projects better. For example
"Movement (panning and zooming) can add a dynamic feel to still shots and can aid in developing plot, revealing character, or creating a dramatic effect."
and
"Transitions can be a real trap. Remember those Powerpoints with a different transition for each slide? The truth is, most transitions are distracting. The key is teaching the purpose of the "Big Three" and show students how to choose. I tell students to think of transitions as punctuation marks."
There's some good advice here and the language he uses is helpful for classroom application.

A Site To Get Lost In

Thanks to a visual artist in my family, I recently became aware of Rhizome.org

Here's how they describe themselves:
Rhizome is based in a wide and diverse community of new media artists, curators, critics and enthusiasts. Our commitment to open-access structures, our community's shared interest in new media and their utilization of Rhizome as an on-line forum for exchange, combines to create an environment that naturally encourages the development of connections and understanding between people from a wide range of backgrounds, geographic areas, and disciplines.

Here's how I would describe them: An infinite source of ideas.
Not only have I seen some projects here that I would like my students to put their own spin on, but also some ways to add web 2.0 elements to projects already in process. (I found the Active Terms Word Cloud very helpful in my searching around.)

Yeah, it's a very thinky-thinky site, based on all the rhetoric of the art world. But some of the ways artists are combining old and new medium are just amazing. Example 1, Example 2, Example 3...

DonorsChoose.org: Fred Wilson's Challenge

If you haven't heard of donorschoose.org it's a fascinating project. The idea is that teachers write up a small pitch for whatever they need. Then, potential donors get to read throught the ideas and choose which one(s) to donate to.

People can also make a list of pitches - called a challenge - then send it out to others. Kind of a cool Web 2.0 philanthropy. So here's a cool challenge from a Venture Capitalist in NYC, Fred Wilson. The coolest thing about it is not that people are asking and getting what they need for technology projects in the classroom. The coolest part is what those projects are. It's a neat snapshot of iTeachers at work.

Hands Free Logging and More

This handy tool came up at a conference I attended last week.
DV Log-X FireWire Videologger for Macintosh OSX
is a set of software tools that can come in very handy when working with students. (As we all know, they don't always take the best notes while shooting.)
The most basic version of the software: DV Log detects when your camera starts/stops and uses that information to make a very basic log that you can import (with some difficulty) into Final Cut Pro or many other software titles.
The most advanced version: HD Log Gold lets you save your logs in a Final Cut Pro format (XML) and also adds features like spell check and search functions.
Which version is best for you depends on the complexity of your projects and your budget. But I recommend you download the Demo and give it a try. In my experience, even the most basic version can be a handy tool for quickly scanning tapes and noting which clips are where.

Apple takes an old idea and makes it their own...

You may have heard of the 24 hour film festival. Well, now Apple brings us the Insomnia Film Festival, another instant movie contest. Unfortunately it's only for High School and College students. But it should be a lot of fun. A lot of tiring fun!

Scholarships for Film Students

A great little collection of college funding for kids who are interested in making movies.

Fresh Films

Another List - This One From Self-Reliant Filmmaking

A lovely low cost list of helpful software. Consider it a buffet for the fall semester - what will you take back to your table?
21 Mac Shareware Applications for Filmmakers

The Documentary Project

The Documentary Project
was a beautiful program for refugee youth in New York. They have put together this website to document their process

Some Phenomenal Resources

Read/WriteWeb has published the most amazing list at
Filmmaker's Tool Kit: Creating a Movie with Web 2.0

It's actually a much better article than I thought it would be. Instead of the same old list of craigslist-myspace-blogger there's links to everything from Backstage for casting to Storyboarding Software to how to FindSounds when your editing.

Overall, a great list of helpful resources for us and our students.

Special Effects on the Cheap

A great DIY how to Make (and Use) Your Own Green Screen
over at MacLife. Not only do they give a step by step for planning and building the background, but they also go through the post-production.

Looks like a great classroom project...

Lesson planning for teachers, Mac style

Planbook is an innovative software tool that helps you to do your lesson planning on your Mac. The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) gives it a good review, but what I noticed (and liked) about it was the ability to attach files inside the software. So, for example, I can link that 'Camera Basics' handout for Monday's class in the plan - instead of trying to figure out where to paste it in my MS Word document.

Sometimes being a Teacher means you are old enough to remember...

Happy 25th Birthday, compact disc! - Engadget

Educational Technology Points Us Towards The Study of The Future

We all know that Web 2.0 is the Future. Educational Technology points us towards a great site - Mediatedcultures.net - that's all about the study of how people are using digital teachnologies.

Don't Just Use What's In the iBox...

As tempting as it may be, I would encourage all iTeachers to not stay inside the iBox. In other words, search out and BUY plug ins and other useful tools for iMovie, Final Cut, and all of your digital applications.

Today I stumbled across this gem called Magnet. They've just released a new version and MacInTouch made mention of it.

"eX-cinder's Magnet 1.5 provides advanced motion tracking for video compositing and special effects. With it, you can attach tracking probes to moving elements, create compositions linked to the probes, and then preview and render the result. It includes direct access to iPhoto and iMovie media, iSight support, and other features. This release includes many new compositions, better integration with Quartz Compositions, preview mode, improved mouse tools, faster incremental tracking, and motion smoothing. Magnet is $39.99 for Mac OS X 10.4 and up (Universal Binary)."

Yes, for the price of 10 fancy coffees, you can have some really cool effects. Be sure to check out the demo movie on the Magnet site.

Managing the Classroom When Students Have Computers

Another excellent article from Techlearning about One-to-One Computing and Classroom Management.

Some of the techniques include "MWA" (management by walking around) and "No Secrets" (let students know that you will be checking their hard drives for illegal downloads). I wish they had a few more pictures of sample classroom setups. I've found this is probably the most important factor when running an edit lab as a work site, not a play zone.

Share web text, video, and more with your phone - Lifehacker

Even with the smallest student project, there is some distribution. Currently we output everything to quicktime and then let the students use iDVD to make their own copies. We also have a youtube site where we post students' videos so that they can share them with their friends. (It also serves as a great publicity tool for our organization.)
But this looks kind of fun. Lifehacker gives a review on Joey, a service that allows you to move video to your cell phone. I know that our students would love to do this.

What Else Should You Know?

Did You Know 2.0 has been out for only a month, and already it has gotten over 100,000 views.



In my humble opinion, it's unfortunate that this piece hints at so much but actually says so little. And, of course, as a filmmaker/teacher of moviemaking, I'm sad that that there's nothing in here about the democratization of media (especially video).

Price of a video editing system
in 1984 - over $250,000
in 1994 - over $25,000
in 2007 - under $2,500

Teaching Girls to Embrace the Geek!

This article from St. Louis Today
talks about a camp aimed at teaching girls science in the 9th and 10th grade. It's been well documented that girls and boys do equally well at math and science until about this age. For some reason, then girls drop significantly.

In video I've seen this phenomenon as well. It still surprises me that I am one of only a handful of female camera operators. After all, composing good shots and pushing buttons is not a uniquely male or female skill. But there's something about filmmaking that seems to make people think it's too technologically challenging (or geeky) for girls.

Funnily enough, when girls meet me and see me with the camera, a lot of this fear seems to melt away.

What about you? Do you see girls shying away from the behind the camera jobs? What about working with computers and post-production? And if you do see this phenomenon when teaching 'the science of moviemaking' what do you do about it?

Where to get Fonts

"Fonts are about the easiest way to add to your creative arsenal, and I’ve compiled a long, but certainly not complete, list of Web sites offering fonts ranging from completely free to uber-expensive." Great article from James Dempsey over at Macworld: Creative Notes

Filmmakers That Think Outside the Film

Filmmakers That Think Outside the Film: This article takes you on a tour of some of the ways filmmakers are thinking beyond the film. Examples include how the assets of a film are repurposed, how filmmakers offering components of their film in digital format for anyone to ‘remix’. Courtesy of WorkbookProject.com

What Are We Teaching?

Throw this one in the category of philosophical debates, but I sometimes wonder what we are teaching in our digital classrooms? When I first started teaching video, the goal was to create new filmmakers. But there are so many students for so few Speilberg-Lee-Coppolla-type openings. So what are we trying to teach? What kinds of skills are we passing on? And how will our students use them?

The Assimilated Negro Blog has some interesting comments based on reading an article by Malcom Gladwell on Genius : "This sort of pigeontails with my theory on genius, that being that we shouldn't view it as a skill or trait that an individual possesses, but more a zone or a place that we enter and leave. Genius, as I see it, is almost like falling in love. We all have the capacity for it, and perhaps some are more predisposed to fall than others, but everyone has their moments."

He goes on to add: "If you start working a job at 22, and stay there for ten years, at 32 you should be a master. And filmmakers and artists who start at 20, may hit their stride at 30. And of course you can accelerate or slow down the process according to how much you want to focus. And it highlights how you inhibit your potential in one fieldby spreading yourself across many fields."

So what do you think? Are we training young media professionals or giving kids skills that they will then apply to other fields? And if the latter is true, are we spreading them so thin that they will become "Jacks of all trades, Master of none"?

Mac or PC?

"Our tech plan calls for laptop purchases to be made over the summer. We were set to go with PCs, but now a committee member has asked about Apple's new Intel-based Macintosh computers. Should we reconsider?"

In one word: Yes.

Here's how Techlearning answers it

Teachers learning how to use technology to enhance lessons

Now this is what I'm talking about!
Teachers learning how to use technology to enhance lessons

PicLens Software

MacInTouch Announces: "Cooliris released PicLens Beta 1.5, a Safari plug-in that transforms a browser window into an image viewer. The viewer provides a full-screen option, slideshows, playback controls, support for the Apple Remote control, and other features, including support for Flickr, Facebook, Google Images, and Yahoo Images. This release adds Google and Yahoo image searches from within full-screen mode, multi-page browsing, an option to jump directly from PicLens to the image web page, and support for Picasa Web Albums, Friendster, and any web site that supports Media RSS. PicLens is free for Mac OS X 10.4 with Safari 2 and 3."

"Technology is now in the Mainstream of the 21st Century Classroom"

Marin educators creating the 21st century classroom: "CHILDREN in Bryan Nielsen's third-grade class at Sausalito's Bayside Elementary School have moved beyond simple staging of a makeshift skit to become their own video and editing crew - filming their efforts and editing on computer with animation, titles and sound.

'It's a new standard of enthusiasm, I think is the biggest thing,' Neilsen said, describing his students' interest in use of the school's multimedia tools in their production of Aesop's fable, 'The Ant and the Grasshopper.'

But far from being in the vanguard, Nielsen's class is in the mainstream of the 21st century classroom, in which sophisticated high-tech equipment is being used in myriad ways at all levels by students and teachers alike."

New Apple Education Site

With the rollout of Leopard, Apple has revised it's site's look and layout pretty extensively. I think the Education
section is a definite improvement. More streamlined than before. Hopefully all the same content is there...In the past I've gotten some great ideas from looking through others' lesson plans and sample projects.

"Learning Is Messy" Has Great News

Over at the Learning Is Messy Blog, Brian Crosby - a 4th Grade Teacher in Nevada gushes about the plans for his school district.
"The District's Technology Program Coordinator...went on to mention that we have already purchased video iPods for podcasting and vidcasting classes for teachers next year – more digital photo classes – PDA classes – and the possibility of iPhone classes – they are serious!"

This is great news! Not only is his district supporting new technology for students, but also allowing teachers the freedom to develop best practices for their classrooms. Hopefully this trend will continue.

More Posts Soon - Out Shooting

One of the things I love about teaching at various programs, is that it gives me the time to do my own digital projects.

I am currently swamped with shooting and preparing to edit a couple of personal peices. Please feel free to search through what's already here and I promise more articles in the next couple of weeks.

One of My Favorite Shows: Spark on KQED

One of my favorite TV shows - both as an artist and an educator - is Spark*. It's an inspired local arts show produced by the Bay Area PBS station, KQED.

Not only do they have wonderful educator guides like this one on the work of media artist Jesus Aguilar, but they also give leads on great learning/teaching resources like M dot Strange's YouTube site.

For those of you not near San Francisco, you can visit the Spark* web site or browse by artist in the digital archives.

Techlearning > > Comic Strips with Flickr > May 25, 2007

A quick and dirty tutorial on how to make Comic Strips with Flickr. You could also make storyboards this way - with digital photos.

Rebirth of a Nation

DJ SPOOKY that subliminal kid has created an interesting film. It's hip-hop mash up of the original racist (so-called) classic "Birth of a Nation". As a former film student, it's quite interesting to watch this new version. I think it could spark some interesting dialogue in High School media classes.

There is a helpful description of the role of the original Birth of a Nation in film history over here.

You can also download a study guide for "Rebirth" with some background info about the project here.

Would you use your iPod for Professional Development?

In the past few months, there have been several articles about University professors using podcasts to get information out to students. Well, Apple is now pushing podcasts for educators. You can get more information by filling out a form here.

I suppose it looks good on paper, but I can't help but wonder, will teachers actually want to do PD this way? I mean, when you spend all day at school and all night grading student work and lesson planning, do you really want to give your ears and brain over to the district during your commute? "Suddenly there's more time in the day." Ha. That's a good one.

A new learning resource from Apple

This used to be included "ProCare" but Apple has now separated out their
'One to One' instruction.
This could be a really helpful resource for teachers. I myself have used the Genius Bar on many occasions to get insight into everything from software to networking to data management. But never for more than a couple of minutes at a time. The idea of having an Apple Professional for a dedicated hour long slot every week is tempting.

Here Comes Final Cut Studio 2

As always, Apple gives us a polished site with a view of the new Final Cut Studio in Action.

How To: Batch Rename a Bunch of Movs

You might have decided to use iMovie to capture video you want to use in Final Cut Pro. Or maybe you did a 'capture now' in Final Cut Pro and now you want to give the clips a better name sequence. You could change each file name by clicking on them one by one. Or, you could watch
batch_rename_files.mov

Fun in Second Life

Here's a great peice from National Public Radio about virtual world vs. real world social rules. Turns out they aren't so different after all.

Don't Stand So Close To Me

Contributors on YouTube May Share Advertising Revenue - New York Times

You may need a (free) account to view this article from
the New York Times. But it's a good one, covering some of the earning opportunities that may come.

Bill Gates on the Future

Gates talks up voice recognition

In this article, Microsoft's Grand Wizard predicts that the computer keyboard will give way to speech recognition software, textbooks will be ditched for electronic multimedia tablets and TV will converge completely with the internet in the next few years.

Looking at how today's youth are using computers (even my students - inner city youth with limited resources) I really doubt it. The keyboard is not just for typing documents, it's for IM, for making beats, for video editing, and so much more. If anything, the mouse is more of a hassle than the keyboard.

Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops

Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops

One of the down sides of NCLB (No Child Left Behind) has been it's impact on curriculum. If a subject is not on the state test, then it suddenly becomes irrelevant. This is true of (former) school staples like recess, gym, and civics. Unfortunately, this is also true of future technologies/skills such as internet research, touch typing, and office software, and video production. These are the skills of the future. The skills that will help our students to get and keep jobs and to have real upward mobility. The three R's are the foundation, not the be all and end all.

Total Sidebar - I can't help but wonder if the schools dropping laptops are using PCs not Macs. Check out Learning Is Messy's 1:1 Case Study.

Anyone Wanna Win an Award?

If you're considering entering your students' work in a festival, it's not the struggle it used to be. In the past you had to search for film/video festivals, make many tapes, and send them all out. Of course, it's now gone digital. On Withoutabox you can search through festivals by date and fill out one form to apply to many festivals. You can also search just to see what events are coming up in your community. Heck, when I was a student, I used to volunteer at festivals just to see all the great films.

Bronx Students Learn Filmmaking, Tribeca Style - New York Times

I'm happy for the kids, really I am. Tribeca filmmakers reaching out to inner city kids is a good thing. However, I can't help but think there was an opportunity missed here. It just seems like the article is being kind - like the film wasn't that good.

People assume that teaching media is easy. That all you have to do is show up with a camera and the kids will get it and create great work. But then, I guess people assume filmmaking is easy too.

Web 2.0 Pocket Dictionary

Here's a handy cheatsheet for all the ways the kids are using the web today. e.g. A short list you can use to generate lessons that are relevant to your students. Classroom vlog anyone?
Web 2.0 Pocket Dictionary

Stop Motion Options

The Workbook Project is a fascinating Blog dedicated to helping "content creators" share resources and techniques. I found them via this great article HOW TO: Stop Motion on a Budget but I will be adding their site to my list of favorites. Most of the articles are for film wannabee insiders, but it's clear that a lot of their material will be relevant to us teachers too.

You should also know, that the folks over at Boinx have some great stop motion software that I've used with many of my students. iStopmotion works with digital still (usb) cameras, video (firewire) cameras including the iSight, and the cameras that now come built in on the iMacs and iBooks. They also have an educational license and volume discounts.

Oh, and if push comes to shove, you can also use Quicktime Pro to make animation or time lapse movies. All you need are a series of stills that are sequentially numbered. (01, 02, 03...99, 100, 101, etc.) Follow the directions for making a slide show but use a frame rate that fits your animation.

Mac 101: Preview Media with Column View

Nice tip here from The Unofficial Apple Weblog. I only discoverd this trick recently and have found it very helpful for cleaning off old student projects from full drives.
Preview Media with Column View

A great idea for iLearners - another way to study on your iPod

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW): iQuiz Maker

"Well that didn't take long. We just mentioned the release of Apple's newest iPod game, iQuiz, and now Aspyr has already come out with iQuiz Maker. This little application makes it easy to create custom quizzes and load them on your iPod. Of course you can also share your iQuizzes with others as well. The iQuiz site already contains several sample iQuizzes as well as three different themes. This could conceivably turn your iPod into a study tool (or at least that's what you can tell mom).

iQuiz Maker is a free download from Aspyr Media."

Everything Old is New Again

One of the first ways that video was used in classrooms was to allow students to view and evaluate their own work and progress (think of video in foreign language labs or special education classes). Now it seems that use has made it to the professional arena.

Saturday's New York Times features an article on how job seekers and college applicants are using video to prepare for interviews. In addition to detailing this process, Auditioning in a Video Resume also mentions something called a "Visume" which, they claim may be more popular in the future. Just remember the cautionary tale of the applicant who was so arrogant in his video that it became an online comedy piece.
"Impossible is Nothing"


What are the implications for our classrooms? Hopefully not a bunch of dry business videos. But perhaps something with more value and practical applications than the average student made PSA (Public Service Announcement).

(Note - NYT free membership may be required to view the article.)

Media Management Tip - Photos

Courtesy of the great folks at Techlearning, a Renaming Photos
how-to for both Mac and PC.

(FYI: On the Mac, you can also use Automator for this task and many others, but it's a little more complicated.)

Adding Audio and Sound Folders to iMovie

Nice Tutorial over at Macworld: How to Add (and Remove) audio and sound folders to iMovie
iMovie 6’s Media tab is a very handy tool for adding audio and visual effects to your movie projects—assuming your media are in a folder that’s listed in either the Audio or Photos tab within the Media section. But what if they’re not? For instance, I will sometimes use a desktop picture as the background behind some scrolling text. I can drag the image to be used into iMovie each time, of course, but things would be much simpler if I could just make my user’s Pictures folder available on the Photos tab in the Media tool.

Lighting On a Classroom Budget

For those teachers who haven't done much photography or pro film/video work, let me tell you a little secret: lighting is really important. I don't say this to be glib, but I've seen *so* many student videos where there is no lighting used except what was coming from the fluorescent overhead.

I think it's crucial to teach kids to look at the faces of the people they're videotaping and try to get a little light in the eyes. One way to do this is to have some inexpensive do it yourself type lighting that the kids can use. Here's one great example:
Hobo DIY Softbox for Perfect Portraits

Pixar: 20 Years of Animation

It's a little old by blog standards, but I just found a cool behind the scenes look at Pixar, courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art. MoMA.org
Probably more appropriate for the younger set, but still quite good. Give your students a sense of the math and art that go into creating some of their favorite films (The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, etc.)

Cool Tool: Sample Garage Band doc

Nine inch nails has posted a garage band doc of their latest single at nine inch nails: current. It's a great resource. Nice to see what's possible with the program. And they say they'll be posting garage band docs of every track on their album over the next few months! Nice way to give back to their fans and our students.

Using Video with Students Who Are Deaf

You may have heard about the events at Galludet University in Washington - basically there is a big controversy about preserving deaf culture and specifically sign language.

Current technologies, including the web have opened up infinite new possibilities for communication. One thing that's happening - that was never possible with phones and email - is that the deaf are publishing signing movies to the web.

There are some really great vlogs on youtube - just search for "Deaf" or "ASL" (American Sign Language). Or, you can take a look at some of the amazing short films made by Eagles Media at the California School for the Deaf.

Flashback

Interesting Tutorial here. You can use the built in camera on newer Macs or plug in an iSight or any other Mac friendly camera (including many digital still cams). I haven't had a chance to try it yet myself, but it seems like the kind of thing students would go nuts over. Heck, they already spend hours distorting themselves in PhotoBooth. Now they can add 1970's video motion effects! And according to Videothing, you can even save your trippy art as a quicktime and import it into FCP.

Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories - Make a Video Feedback Screen Saver in Quartz Composer

Cool Tool: Keyboard Covers

Even though students are not allowed to eat/drink in class, dust is always a problem in the lab. Thanks to Bob Donlon's DV Blog, I found this nifty solution.
KB Covers Home Page
They have covers for FCP, Adobe and ProTools. They also have a 'blank' cover in the Education section for touch typing practice. All for $25-30.

More about music...

Another possible source for free music. Courtesy of our friends at lifehacker.
Be sure to read the comments - even more sources there.
Geek to Live: Find free music on the web

Apple - Education - Documentary Filmmaking

Apple - Education - Documentary Filmmaking
Some interesting resources here. I'm particularly interested in the DVD produced by the Natural History Day organization. Curious to see if it would be of any use to my students. (Right now, we just show projects completed by past students and the occassional 'professional' film.)

MacLife: Eugene Talks Audacity

Back when MacLife was MacAddict, I checked in with the site pretty much every day. But for about the first month after the transition/renaming/rebranding, I just couldn't get into it. Maybe it was because I missed Max (to your left), maybe the calm colors disturbed me, but it was probably because they moved the Editors' Blog off the front page.

That oversight has been fixed and now each editor has a link to their semi-daily updates on the front page. We also get to see photos of each of them, which is kind of nice. In this post, Eugene gives a brief 1st person account of using Audacity. Looks like a nice alternative to Garage Band.

Improving Student Searches

I often assign students research projects as they prepare materials for a video. Sometimes they google their subject matter. Sometimes they're searching for images to drop into a edit.

Dewey Decimal was my research BFF in 11th grade. This week I found a new one, Dharmesh Shah over at Small Business Hub. He gives us 12 Quick Tips To Search Google Like An Expert. It's got too many college words for my students. But I plan on a cut-paste-adapt to pass out next week. Dharmesh says,

"The following tips are based on my own experience and things that I actually find useful. The list is by no means comprehensive. But, I assure you that by learning and using the 12 tips below, you’ll rank up there with the best of the Google experts out there. I’ve kept the descriptions intentionally terse as you’re likely to grasp most of these simply by looking at the example anyways."

Thanks Dharmesh.

About Music...

I've been hunting for free/lo cost music for my students to use in their videos. It's tough going, but here's some sources I've found so far. What do you use?
Creative Commons
Internet Archive
Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project
Folktunes.org
Open Music Archive
Ourmedia.org
Jamendo
Podsafe Music Network

How Copyright Affects iTeachers

The Digital Learning Challenge: Obstacles to Educational Uses of Content in the Digital Age A Foundational White Paper: "In particular, we wanted to explore whether innovative educational uses of digital technology were hampered by the restrictions of copyright. We found that provisions of copyright law concerning the educational use of copyrighted material, as well as the business and institutional structures shaped by that law, are among the most important obstacles to realizing the potential of digital technology in education."

Internet Start-Up to Take a Hybrid Media Approach - New York Times

I often wonder what jobs we are preparing our students for. After all, there are millions of kids learning video production all over the country. They can't all be the next Steven Speilberg! When I worked in "Hollywood" there weren't even enough entry level jobs for all the film school grads.

YouTube, Current, Turn Here and the like work for some, but will they really create enough jobs for the digital storytellers? Especially when so much content is presented without advertising/revenue? Today's NYT mentions a new model - micronetworks. It could just be dry industrials and educational video ported to the web. But I'm hoping that generation digital can make something much more interesting of it.

Internet Start-Up to Take a Hybrid Media Approach - New York Times: "Next New Networks, a New York-based Internet start-up run and backed by former executives of MTV and Nickelodeon, will announce plans today to begin a series of video-oriented Web sites — what the company calls micro-networks — on niche topics like do-it-yourself fashion, comic books, car racing and cartoons."

National EdTech Standards Being Revised

"The National Educational Technology Standards for Students were released in June 1998, with accompanying Performance Profiles of technology literate students and Essential Conditions for implementation. Over time, the standards have received acceptance and widespread use across the United States and in many other countries."

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is working to refresh the standards. Sponsors of this initiative include Adobe, Apple, Intel, Microsoft, and more.

Head on over and fill out a survey or lead a forum. Deadline is March 30, 2007

What's popular with the kids?

So I asked my students today: Other than Myspace and YouTube, what are your favorite sites? Here are some of their answers:

MoFunZone
Stardoll
Club Penguin
Zwinky

What about your students? Post their favorites in the comments.

On Designing a Curriculum

It took a little longer than I expected, but I've finally finished writing my video production curriculum. This spring I'm teaching two classes in two very different programs, so I couldn't cut and paste and cheat. (ha!) I had to dig deep for new ideas and also spent some time revising successful past projects.

One thing I've learned has become my keystone for writing digital video curriculum:
Students learn best by doing. Nowadays I try to stand back as much as possible and let them figure it out. When I was just starting out I spent a lot of time showing them how and explaining long lists of do's and don'ts. (Of course I didn't know it then, but I was actually spending a lot of time boring the students instead of engaging them.)

For example, I get the camera into their hands on day one. I'll quickly review inserting tapes and how to start/stop the camera. Then I send them out with a worksheet or to do list. They have a fixed amount of time to shoot and then bring the footage back to the whole class to review. While they shoot, I hover and watch what they're doing. If a student hesitates, stalls or asks me to tell them what to do, I might ask them a question like, "I don't know, what do YOU think you should do here?"

So what's your keystone? What do you start with as you design your curriculum?